echolalia

American  

[ek-oh-ley-lee-uh] / ˌɛk oʊˈleɪ li ə /

noun

1. Psychiatry. the uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by another person.

2. the imitation by a baby of the vocal sounds produced by others, occurring as a natural phase of childhood development.

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echolalia British  

/ ˌɛkəʊˈlælɪk, ˌɛkəʊˈleɪlɪə /

noun

1. psychiatry the tendency to repeat mechanically words just spoken by another person: can occur in cases of brain damage, mental retardation, and schizophrenia

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Other Word Forms

• echolalic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of echolalia

First recorded in 1880–85; echo + -lalia

Explanation

The repetition of other people's words or sounds is echolalia. When the toddler you babysit repeats everything you say, over and over again, you can call it "annoying," or you can call it echolalia. Echolalia is a psychiatric term that's used to describe what some people with mental disorders or autism tend to do, automatically repeat what they hear other people say. There's no meaning intended in echolalia — it's simply a mechanical echoing of sounds. Babies do this too, when they're learning to speak. The word echolalia combines the Greek word for "resound, or echo," with lalia, or "speech."

Example Sentences

Echolalia is a mental disease which makes people immediately repeat things that well people around them say.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Echolalia has never, perhaps, been more marked, the final words of sentences heard being repeated with the regularity of a machine.

From The Mind of the Child, Part II The Development of the Intellect, International Education Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX. by Preyer, William T.